July Update – Pulling Teeth For Jesus

July 5, 2018

Pulling out someone’s teeth may not seem like the kindest thing to do to a person, but for dozens of Syrian refugees this past week it was a long-awaited mercy.

Living with a rotted, infected tooth – or multiple teeth – for month’s on end, with no ability to go to a dentist, is rather miserable and painful. Finding someone who can relieve that pain and heal the infection is a great relief for them!

We are thus very thankful that Dr. Jack the dentist returned to help us again this year. He provided free dental services to 45 of the refugees we work closely with who had significant dental problems. He pulled approximately 50 infected or shattered teeth this past weekend. He also did over a dozen fillings for cavities when the occasional salvageable tooth was found.

Dental hygiene and care is largely non-existent amongst the displaced Syrian refugees we work with in the Middle East region. Dr. Jack commented that our refugees had some of the worst teeth he’d seen! We’ve certainly tried giving them toothbrushes and showing them how to brush, but it is not a regular part of the culture for the many rural refugees we deal with and is thus largely neglected.

There was time to stop and share with them about Jesus in the midst of the weekend of pulling teeth. The refugees know that this is all being done as part of the broader compassion effort that many Christian’s continue to support. Whether the refugees are Muslims, Christians, Druze or Yazidi they continue to express their thankfulness for the Christian workers serving them in these things, and they were particularly glad for the relief from their months-long tooth pain!

We were thankful for the dentist and his wife, who formed the dental team this weekend. Dr. Jack travels the world providing dental care for Gospel ministries, ranging from Africa to South America and the Middle East. He does not receive any compensation from us or the refugees, and is solely pulling teeth to show love to the refugees in Jesus’ name. Pray that God would bless him for his selfless labors and continue to provide open doors for dental work to unreached people. Pray that the compassion shown would continue to soften hearts to hear about Jesus amongst these Syrian refugees as well!